Analysis released today by Kantar Media’s automotive evaluation team reveals that BMW’s i8 was the most discussed model in social media at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2013. It was mentioned in 3.3% of all posts, coming out ahead of Jaguar’s C-X17 Concept (3.1%) and Audi’s Sport Quattro Concept (2.5%). Withinonline news and blogs, Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class achieved top spot, appearing in 5.17% of articles and blogs mentioning the event,followed by BMW’s i3 (5.16%) and i8 (4.9%).

The BMW i8 is one of several hybrid, electric and PHEV models in the Top 10 ranking of the most-mentioned models in the month leading up to the show and the two press days – evidence of the growing popularity of alternative technologies.

Audi received more coverage on social networks than any other brand (10.8% of all mentions), displaying two eye-catching concepts in the Sport Quattro Concept and the Nanuk Concept.

Within online news and blog coverage, where outright performance tends to be less influential, Volkswagen generated the highest volume of mentions of any brand (8.4%), just edging out BMW (8.3%). Although it did not have a dramatic new product to unveil, it produced a series of variants from models in its existing line-up. The most prominent among these was the Golf R and two all-electric models, the e-Up! and e-Golf which underscored the brand’s increasing eco credentials.

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Methodology

Kantar Media analysed over 51,000 online news articles and blog posts and over 111,000 social media posts and discussions from a month before the first press day (August 12th 2013) to the end of the second press day (September 11th 2013) in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Sources for online news were key global media outlets and blogs tracked by Kantar Media using its Autotracker online analysis tool. Sources for social media coverage included Twitter, Facebook, forum posts and comments on video sites including YouTube. The research looked for references to the Frankfurt Motor Show in the text to ensure the results were show-specific.